PORTFOLIO ALBERTO CASATI Industrial and startegic designer
ME! I am Italian and by saying that I mean that I carry with me many of those characteristics that I find in my Country like spontaneity
and cheerfulness. I am a curious person and I like to try different experiences: this is what I did during my studies, studying in 3 different Countries and experimenting in many fields. My friends say I would be good as politician, coach, movie director, art director, diplomat, teacher and of course as a designer.
GUALTIERO MARCHESI many fields. Chef
Design can be found in I admire very much this chef that brings in every dish the two most important ingredients: semplicity and creativity.
Artist MAURIZIO CATTELAN
I like him because he creates provocative works that are at the same time very poetic and inspiring with the right quantity of crazi-
ness.
SERENA WILLIAMS Tennis player
I admire people that have grit and determination. She is simply a winner and I love her confidence in the crucial moments of a match.
MY VISION
Design, Art, Business, Strategy, Innovation, Creativity, are all words that stay in the
same dictionary. Being a designer for me is not a job but is a way of thinking and live.
Designers are people that create. They can create products but they can also create emotions and experiences. For me design has a very wide spectrum and during my education I tried to experiment as many different aspects as I could. I am ambitious and I want my energy to bring my ideas far.
Being a designer is a foolish but very
fascinating choice.
MY PROJECTS performance
product
safety
ergonomy
style playfulness packaging
2007 2009 Industrial design Politecnico di Milano
experiments
graphic materials
2010 Industrial design Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Kunste, Stuttgart
service innovation
experience patent
urban design
photography business video
strategy art
community
politics
furniture
2011 Industrial and strategic design Aalto University, Helsinki
2012 Product service system design Politecnico di Milano
2013
CHOCK’N’GO Year: 2008
WHEN A NICE PACKAGING CAN BE AN EXTRA VALUE
Chock’n’go is a container for liquid chocolate designed for the brand “Decathlon”. The drop shape gives the idea of a fresh product, perfect for moments of tiredness during the sport play. Chock’n’go is easy to open and easy to carry. There are 6 versions with 6 flavours to satisfy the different tastes.
BRUNO Year: 2009
HIGH PERFORMANCE HANDLEBAR FOR TRIATHLON COMPETITIONS This handlebar has been designed for triathlon bikes. These bike infact are different from the normal ones: they have some sticks in the front that help the athlete to assume an aerodynamic position. This handlebar has a wing shape that reduces the friction and when the athlete needs to push to the front, the handlebar rotates and goes to the front. The central part gives stability to the handlebar and two small armrests support the arms of the athlete giving comfort.
PRISMA Year: 2009
DECORATIONS FOR A WHITE CHRISTMAS
Prisma is a serie of elegant Christmas decorations. All the 22 different decorations that I designed have been assembled by hand by gluing together 36 layers of paper. In this way it was possible to bring the third dimension to bi-dimensional pieces. The inspiration for these decorations came from a snowy day: I tried to represent the whiteness, the lightness and the fragility of the snow flakes. For this reason I used white sheets of paper and I created a sort of fragile skeleton. Considering then the Christmas colors, I realized some decorations also in gold and silver paper.
TOPINA Year: 2009
A DELECIOUS AND TASTY LAMP FOR CHILDREN
Topina is a lamp thought for children. It is a playful lamp: when the light is turned off it looks like a big piece of cheese made of yellow plexiglass. When the lamp is illuminated, silhouettes of mice appear made from black stickers placed on the inner surface. Safety was a priority in the design of the lamp as it is intended for children.
NERONE Year: 2010
WHY CAN’T A ROMAN STYLE BE CONTEMPORARY?
Nerone is a shaver inspired by roman mosaics. I designed two versions: one that is very colourful and one that is darker and more elegant. From the top view the shaver has a striped pattern while on the side looks made by cubes. In my first sketches the idea was to play with the surface creating gaps but then I decided that the smooth version was the one that gave the best feeling in my hand.
EXPERIMENTS Year: 2010
DISCOVERING AND PLAYING WITH THE MATERIAL
Although this is not a finished project, I wanted to show some experiments I did with different materials. I find ceramic fascinating and I explored this material thoroughly, playing with its brightness and manipulating its shape to simulate other materials, such as a textile. I like the textures and the colours I got from these experiments and I find them very inspiring.
INFUSION Year: 2010
REDESCOVERING THE TASTE AND THE SHAPES OF THE FUTURIST CUISINE Infusion is a project for a modern tearoom. I decided to create a futurist tea room, taking inspiration from the Italian futurism of the beginning of the 20th century. The tea room I designed is both modern and technological, and the shapes I used are very futuristic. The shape of the teapot itself is reminiscent of an atom and the tea leaves will stay inside a glass container that can be inserted and removed from the lip. The different colours of the tops correlate to the flavour of the tea.
For this futuristic tea room, I also designed a table. The shapes and the colours relate to those of the teapot. Inside there are two induction plates and two touch screens. The users can choose and enjoy the tea he prefers and the induction plates will adjust the water temperature perfectly. Induction plates are not dangerous for the users because they don’t generate heat on the table.
Once the tea is ready, the glass containers can be removed from the lid and placed in a special container located in the middle of the table.
MUSES Year: 2009-2011
PROMOTING MUSIC EVENTS IN MONZA
The beautiful theatre inside the royal villa of Monza has been the location for some concerts of the European programme “MUSes� (MUSic European Students) for the last 3 years. It involves young musicians from different countries in Europe. When the concerts in 2009 and in 2011 were organized in Monza, I was asked to create the posters, the invitations and the promocards for the event.
CAMLEON Year: 2010
NICE LIGHT IS ESSENTIAL FOR TAKING NICE PICTURES Camleon is a ring light designed for Nikon. The 24 RGB LEDs inside the ring give the possibility to change the color of the light, overcoming some lighting problems and avoiding filters. In photography in many occasions the user needs an extra light, but not as strong as the flash light. Camleon is the solution and gives the possibility to create at the same time very artistic photos or very natural photos, using the RGB LEDs that are flexible to the needs.
Year: 2011
UNO, NESSUNO E CENTOMILA A PROJECT OF EXPLORATION AND EXPERIMENTATION OF PERSONAL IDENTITY This project was finished after spending one week in the snowy Finnish forest of Karelia. The aim of the course was to express the feelings linked to the topic of personal identity. I had so many images in my mind that even a diary was not enough to write and sketch my feelings. The final video that I made gave voice to the silent part of my soul. You can view this video by searching “Uno, nessuno e centomila alberto casati” on YouTube.
JOHN BORNO Year: 2011
A NICE WAY TO SAY BUONGIORNO!
John Borno is an alarm clock aimed to help you start the day off right! A projector located inside the central sphere allows the user to choose the video to project on the wall the next morning. There is a wireless connection to the computer and thus the user’s friends are able to send videos that would be projected when the alarm rings. In this course I had to produce a working prototype and this made me explore the basics of electronics and computer programming.
NOKIA SLICE Year: 2011
THIS CONCEPT HAS BEEN PATENTED BY NOKIA WITH AN INTERNATIONAL PATENT
COMMUNICATION BECOMES FLEXIBLE AND THINNER
Nokia slice is a concept that aims to turn page in the mobile communication realm. The mobile device is composed of customizable and removable pages, that give the user all the needs in one slim and flexible electronic device. The pages of Nokia slice work independently which gives the user the possibility to use more then one application at the same time. The flexibility of the pages allows a new tactile interface.
ITALIA Year: 2011
TRIBUTE FOR THE 150th ANNIVERSARY OF ITALIAN UNIFICATION
Italia is a bookcase designed on occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Italian unification. The shape has been created pixelating the shape of Italy in 150 pixels; the bookcase is then divided in 20 pieces as the number of the Italian regions. The bookcase is made of wood and is available also in the three colors of the Italian flag: green, white and red.
AQUARIUM ON BOARD
Year: 2011
A STRATEGIC PROPOSAL FOR ACQUARIO DI GENOVA
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Acquario di Genova is a very special experience in a beautiful city. Considering the assets and the partnerships of the aquarium (which is part of costa edutainment), we developed a proposal for a new cruise experience. A cruise ship hosting a special, still reduced, aquarium on board. Firstly offering special shows to the cruise guests. Secondly, bringing the acquarium all around the world.
BUSINESS MODEL (AS TO BE) key partners
Costa Crociere
key activities
customer relation
maintenance
self-service
experience design
guided tours
key customers
shows families key resources
Mediterranean harbours
value proposition
animals knowledge driven staff
cost structure
close highly emotional and entertaining underwater experience
key channels acquarium turistic touch-points cruise ship
revenue streams ship maintenance animals care staff
usage fee
cruise ships enthusiasts
Year: 2011
MILANO BIRDLINE MODERN AND EASY URBAN BIRDWATCHING Milano birdline, is a project that aims to make urban birdwatching easy and accessible to everyone. The idea is to locate some webcams in some spots of the city, giving the users the same view that birds have. Some webcams are also placed on some birds, giving the possibility to trace their routes and watch their pictures. Citizens can also participate to some photo competitions, competing as a couple, together with one of the birds.
EQUICENTRO Year: 2012
A BUSINESS PROPOSAL FOR SAVING THE HIPPODROME OF MILAN Equicentro is a business, and in parallel, a social investment that aims to re-establish the Hippodrome area, improve the quality of life in Milan, renew and bring forward the close relationship between humans and horses, that started centuries ago, into the future. Equicentro is a vast and open horse park in the city of Milan, with some free activities aiming to introduce horses to people with little knowledge, and other more specific activities for the members regarding sport and well-being.
Visitor Journey at Level One Visitor hears about Equicentro through
Upon reaching the infopoint at the Equicentro entrance, he obtains info on the Basics of Life.
He then goes to pick up the necessary elements for the chosen activity.
Proceeding excitedly to the activity location, he spends some time getting to know the horses through the activity.
After he completed the free activity, he returns the elements to
And goes on his way to explore the vast area of the park further with his friend.
The visitor has the option to go back to any infopoint to pick another free activity to complete.
Visitor Journey at Level Two Visitor hears about Level Two while exploring the park.
He goes to the infopoint to obtain more information about Level Two membership options.
After picking a suitable membership, he registers and pays for the subscription.
When he feels that he is good enough at the activities, he volunteered his assistance to other members and visitors.
In about 10 days, he receives his Equicentro membership card in his mail. Alternatively, he could have picked it up at the center office.
As a regular member of Equicentro, he is able to network with other members/visitors to share his experiences.
All excited to start his paid activities, he goes to the Equicentro website to create his profile and personalized calendar of activities.
Being a horse enthusiast, he plans to visit Equicentro on a regular basis and challenge himself to be an expert on certain activities.
TUTTIFRUTTI Year: 2012
DEFINITION OF A FRUITFUL POLITICAL PARTICIPATORY SYSTEM IN MONZA My thesis work comes from the desire to experiment which kind of innovative tools a product-service designer can bring to politics. I’ve always been fascinated by politics and, considering the particular historical moment in which we live, I tried to give a design response for the definition of a new participatory tool that can be adopted at municipal level (in particular I focused on the city of Monza).
and unfriendly, and for this reason I created an opposite bucolic representation of it, something that appears like a real change, with the aim of gaining the trust of people. The new service system starts with a web platform in which citizens can find a “participatory tree”: a virtual tree of the City in which each branch represents one of the main categories, each leaf is an open discussion that can generate then flowers (open meetings) Politics right now is per- and fruits (final citizens’ deceived as something old liberations).
www.tuttifruttimonza.it/participatory_tree/park_and_royal_villa/w
News
Participatory tree
Map
Gathered fruits
fruitful participation in Monza
82 open discussions Open discussions 21 projects in progress Projects in progress 7 votings Deliberations to vote
OPEN DISCUSSION Park and Royal villa
What to do with the old racetrack inside the Park? discussion open till 10 February 2013
www.tuttifruttimonza.it/news
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Map
Gathered fruits
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fruitful participation in Monza
NEXT PUBLIC MEETINGS Requalification viale Lomabrdia Urban center
urban planning
New parking under boschetti reali urban planning City center 3
21 February 2013 21:00
20 February 2013 21:00
CITIZENS: Latest news from participatory tree
ADMINISTRATION: Latest news from the gathered fruits
ttransportation t ti NEW discussion Metro and/or monorail in Monza?
culture VOTE FINAL DELIBERATION New site for musical school Appiani
19 February 2013
18 Febraury 2013 Vote till 4 March
youth politics NEW discussion Extend the timetablesNEW of libraries discussion
19 February 2013
park and royal villa Project in progress What to do with the old racetrack inside the park? 18 February2013
VOTE CITIZENS’ PROPOSITION youth politics Free Wi-Fi in the center of Monza NEW discussion
18 February 2013
NEW discussion
urban planning
Can we move the market from the central square? Check open discussions F b
road system Discussion in progress transportation Bike sharing in MonzaNEW discussion
18 February2013
Discussion in progress Urban orto in old slaughterhouse Check open discussions 6F b
urban planning
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WHO SAID THAT POLITICS CAN’T BE FUNNY? LET’S PLAY WITH IT! After the creation of the web platform, I designed and experimented one participatory technique. I collected online citizens’ ideas about one specific issue and I included those ideas in a board game that I designed. The board game was designed with the purpose of forcing people to have a proactive listening and a consensus building approach. In this way it was possible to multiply the options, after considering all the different points of view. This part of my project brought to very interesting outcomes, proving the interest of people in new forms of participatory politics.
PHOTOGRAPHY A PHOTO IS NOT JUST A MEMORY BUT TELLS WHO YOU ARE
I really like taking pictures because when I then look at them, I understand more of myself. The camera is like an external third eye and the photos reveal what I look and how I look; which are the important things for me and which are not. For me the most important part of a photo, is the armony of the elements and the choice of the shot in general.
30, Egerton Gardens, sw3 2db, London phone: +44 7901017787 mail: alby.casati@gmail.com skype: albykasa88